Closure for bottles and other containers



T. C. SPELLING.

CLOSURE FOR BOTTLES AND OTHER CONTAINERS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.26, 1918.

1,390,832. PatentedSept. 13,1921.

44 ll; il 'z'a i NIH 22.

FlG.5.

UNITED STATES mamas o. srnLLINe, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

CLOSURE FOR BOTTLES AND OTHER CONTAINERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 13, 1921.

Application filed September 26, 1918. Serial No. 255,777.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, THOMAS C. Srnrmrue, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city' in the county ofNew York and State ofNew York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in C10- sures for Bottles and other Containers, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to closures for bottles and other containers. It has for a purpose the provision of a device simple in form that may be cheaply constructed and mechanically applied and locked, dispensing entirelywith the ordinary form of closure known. as a stopper. And in connection with that, and in combination with it, the provision of a bottle. or container so specially formed about the mouth as to have the proposed form of closure fitted to it. Another purpose is the provision of a container and such means for sealing it as will permit of brim-full filling without the introduction or retention of any free air what ever within the container. All of which will be better understood from the description contained in this specification, the drawings and claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top vlew of y a bottle neck provided with my new closure. 2 is a side elevation of what is shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is Fig. 2 viewed from either the right or the left side. Fig.

4 is Fig. 1 with the. labelremoved. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a modified bottle neck and. my device laced thereon ready to be turned into final position. Fig. 6 is a side view of the metallic member, hereinafter designated as the binder, showing its form beforeit is placed on the bottle. Fig. 7 is a diametrical section of a member hereinafter designated as the sealer.

A specific description Wlll involve the use of reference numerals, the same numeral designating identical parts where identical parts appear in more than one view.

While the invention is adaptable to a variety of containers, only a bottle is employed for illustrative purposes herein.

The rim 1, on the bottle 1, is formed with a base of irregular outline, but, transversely,

it is formed in horizontal plane. It has the two downwardly slanted sections, 2, directly opposite each other with a short unslanted section, 3, at the middle of each. The numoral 5, designates the shoulder of the rim, 1, and 6 a smooth circular and upwardly slanted area around the relatively sharp upformed the notches, 4, and in the area which embraces the notch, is formed the shallow gap 4, the uses of which will be presently explained. The sealer illustrated in Fig. 7 and elsewheremarked by the numeral 12, is a member WlllCh, by compression, is caused to tightly seal the bottle. As will be easily understood, it may be variously composed andconstituted for the same result. The formtakenfor the illustration assumes that 1t is made of one piece of soft or flexible material, preferably rubber. It being intended to .force it down on the relatively sharp projection, 7, and deeply indent it underneath and near its periphery, it is obvious that the portion of it just inside the indentation will be intruded downward inside the bottle rim and so displace and drive toward the center a small quantity of liquid, or other flowing substance, which must be provided for in order to totall exclude free air in the process of sealing. ince it is one of the main purposes of the invention to absolutely exclude free air from below the seal, it is clear that to arch the sealer on, its under side would not answer the purpose. Hence the sealer is reduced centrally, at 17, on its upper side in order to weaken it, so that the liquid or other substance forced to the center, will merely cause it to there bulge slightly upward, the elasticity, or flexibility, of the material allowing it to yield to the small extent necessary. For convenience in seating the sealer on the rim, a narrow in cision,26, is made to mark the point of contact 'for the sealer and the shar edge, whether for the preferred or modi ed embodiment. The other principal memberto be described is the binder. It will be ordinarily constructed from thin sheet metal of proper resiliency and adequate tensile strength. For convenience and clearness of description, I divide it into the two general parts, the central or cap portion, 8, and the grip portions, 9, each comprisingseveral elements. The cap, 8, is formed with the integral portion 10,the same constituting a circular band extending from the periphery inwardly. From the interior area of the cap are cut out the open spaces 23 to form the sections 24 attached at their bases to the integral band 10. These are left disunited of the open space, 11. Across the cap, transversely to the junction of cap and grips, I form the crease, or downward curve, the purpose of which is to equalize and distribute the pressure on the sealer, upon final emplacement of the binder. From the piece of metal used to form the. binder portion, 9, are cut the legs, 13, each terminating at its free end in a foot 14, each foot comprising part and part 16.

Part 15 is a spur benttoward the bottle to a right angular position with respect to the leg, and also with respect to part 16, the latter being no more than an integral portion of a leg, meaning that portion of the leg connected with part 15.

In use the sealer is first laid on the month; then the binder is applied.

The rim 1 is-shown in the form of an undulating, gradually sloping landscape inverted. Continuing the figure ofspeech,the grips are put on with their feet in the valleys, as seen in Fig.5. The crease, 10, now rests transverselyto its final relation on the sealer. As the feet are drawn along the downwardly slanted sides of the rounded portions, 2, the tension constantly increases, until the notches, 4, and cavities, 4, are

reached. The feet 15 now snap into the notches, 4, and the legs, 13, recede into the cavities, 4% Meantime, the cap, 8, riding part of the way 011 the crease, 10, and the v other part on both that, and its under side,

and rotating on the smooth upper surface of the sealer, presses the latter down on either the sharp raised projection 7 as in Fig. 2, or down against, the acute interior edges, 21, of the rim in Fig. 5. In either form the sealer is indented all around.

A machine used to emplace, the parts may be constructed tobear down on the cap portion and sealer simultaneously with the lateralmovement just described, and so reduce or entirely obviate the strain on the spur 15, and the leg 13.

The sealer must have sflicient thickness to accommodate the movements of the parts in the act of applying the binder, as just explained, also, toadmit of a slight reaction resulting from the upward movement of the binder upon the entryof the spurs (parts 15 'of the feet) in'the notches, 4, but the upedges in the modified form are not to be considered as normal. They are made acute for present purposes by reason of the upward slant of the area 6, of the rim 1. Many bottles, jars and other containers require less severity of pressure than others, in order to adequately seal them. The label, 18, could not be dispensed with in a device of this character without a substantial subtraction from its utility. It can be made of metal, paper, cloth, or other suitable material, and glued or otherwise suitably attached subsequently to the completion of the act of sealing and binding. Its central portion serves to prevent the collection of dirt in the central depression, 17, and on the open spaces,

23, and its flanges, 19, perform the same function at the periphery of the sealer. The label may also be employed to carry advertising matter. (See the words, Trade Mark, 20.)

V hether the sealer and binder are to be permanently attached is optional; but if that be preferable, then the label has the additional utility of serving to bind them together and to itself.

Inasmuch as the invention may be embodied in various other forms of varying sizes, and used with an increased number of months in the same character in assembled and partitioned containers, I do not, by reason of the foregoing description and these drawings, preclude myself of the right to embody it in other forms, and to apply it to otheruses, consistently with these specifications and claims.

Having thus set forth and described the invention, I claim as follows:

1. In a closure for a bottle or other container, a seal member of rubber, underlying a cap member, or other suitable material, the seal member having a circular central section of its vertical dimension removed to render it derneath.

2. In a closure for a bottle or other container a seal member of rubber, or other suitable material in circular form with a diminished central section adapted to yield upwardly, as against the pressure of flowing yieldable to pressure against it unsubstances, and a small trench inside the periphery of the seal member on its flat side.

In a closure for a bottle or other cont ainer a seal member of rubber, or other suitable material in circular form with a diminished central section. adaptedto yield upwardly, as against the pressure of flowing substances, and a small trench inside the periphery of the seal member on its flat side, the trench positioned with respect to and fitted to a relatively sharp edge on the interior margin of the rim of a bottle.

4. In a closure for a bottle or other container, means for compressing a seal member fitted on the mouth and rim of a bottle,

and means for frictionally binding the seal member in the mouth and on a relatively sharp ed e of the rim surrounding the mouth, t e means comprising a binder formed with a central cap portion and leg and foot extensions formed to frictionally and resiliently engage an undercut rim formed on the bottle around the mouth in gaps formed vertically in the side of the rim and in notches formed in the lower marigins of the gaps in the rim, in horizontal reation thereto 5. In a closure for a bottle or other container, a seal member of rubber or other suitable material, underlying a cap member, the 15 and to thecap member over and about said 20 circular central section.

In testlmony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two wltnesses.

THOMAS C. SPELLING.

Witnesses.

L. A. NIoHoLsoN. O. E. SCHOONOVER. 

